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Who are the Women Who Work in Their Last Month of Pregnancy? Social and Occupational Characteristics and Birth Outcomes of Women Working Until the Last Month of Pregnancy in France

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Abstract

Introduction The prenatal leave law in France protects women during pregnancy and their employment. We aimed to estimate the proportion of women who worked late in their pregnancy, to analyze the occupational, social and medical factors associated with late prenatal leave and to compare the pregnancy outcome of these women and those who left earlier in the pregnancy. Methods The sample was extracted from the 2010 French National Perinatal Survey. All women who delivered within a 1-week period were interviewed before discharge from the maternity unit. Women with a singleton live birth at or after 37 weeks’ gestation and who were working during pregnancy (n = 8463) were included. Data were collected on employment, date of leave, and sociodemographic and medical characteristics. Results Overall, 328 women (3.9 %) took a late prenatal leave (at or after 37 weeks’ gestation). Women who left late were older than 30 years old, with a high educational level and were living in an urban area. Being self-employed and having a managerial or upper-intellectual occupation was highly associated with late leave, before and after controlling for relevant variables. Perinatal and delivery outcomes were similar for women who took a late leave and those who left before 37 weeks’ gestation. Discussion Occupational characteristics are the main determinants of late prenatal leave. Women working in the last month of pregnancy had a favorable social and occupational situation and did not did not experience an adverse pregnancy or birth outcome. Other studies are needed to understand the reasons for late leave and evaluate the post-partum fatigue and health of these women.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Maternal and Child Health Service in each district, the heads of the maternity units, the investigators, and the women who participated in the survey.

Funding

The French National Perinatal Survey was funded by the Ministry of Health and was coordinated by the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) Unit U1153 (Paris, France). Our study was supported by the French Ministry of Health, the National Health Insurance Fund for Salaried Workers (CNAMTS), and the National Institute for Prevention and Health Education (INPES) through a grant from the French Institute for Public Health Research (IReSP). Inserm Unit 1153 has received a grant from the Bettencourt Foundation (Coups d’élan pour la Recherche française) in support of its research activities. This work was supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (No. FDM20140731355 to SV).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM UMR 1153, Obstetrical, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team (EPOPé), Center for Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité, DHU Risks in Pregnancy, Paris Descartes University, 75014, Paris, France

    Solène Vigoureux, Béatrice Blondel & Marie-Josèphe Saurel-Cubizolles

  2. INSERM UMR 1018, CESP Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, Gender, Sexuality and Health Team, Université Paris-Saclay, Univ. Paris-Sud, UVSQ, Kremlin-Bicêtre, F-94276, France

    Virginie Ringa

  3. Institut National d’Études Démographiques (INED), F-75020, Paris, France

    Virginie Ringa

Authors
  1. Solène Vigoureux
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  2. Béatrice Blondel
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  3. Virginie Ringa
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  4. Marie-Josèphe Saurel-Cubizolles
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Solène Vigoureux.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The survey was approved by the National Council on Statistical Information and the French Commission on Information Technology and Liberties (CNIL) (registration number 909003, 12 June 2009).

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Vigoureux, S., Blondel, B., Ringa, V. et al. Who are the Women Who Work in Their Last Month of Pregnancy? Social and Occupational Characteristics and Birth Outcomes of Women Working Until the Last Month of Pregnancy in France. Matern Child Health J 20, 1774–1779 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2009-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2009-x

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